1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of sporting equipment. More particularly, it relates to a sportsboard used in an upright standing or kneeling position which has an ergonomic upper surface that reduces strain and wear on human joints.
2. Background of Related Art
Various types of sports requiring a sportsboard have become popular. These sports are performed by riding different types of sportsboards on various types of ridden medium, e.g., water, pavement or snow.
For instance, surfboards and wakeboards have become popular sportsboards for use on water. Surfboards are ridden on water by planting a rider""s bare feet at two points on the upper surface of the surfboard, with the feet typically placed non-parallel to the length of the surfboard. Wakeboards are towed behind a boat, with a rider kneeling or standing on an upper surface of the wakeboard. Skateboards have become popular sportsboards for use on pavement. Skateboards are ridden by planting a rider""s feet (typically wearing sneakers or other street footwear) at two points on the upper surface of the skateboard, the feet being typically placed non-parallel to the length of the skateboard.
Moreover, on snow, snowboards have become particularly popular, by some estimates soon to be more popular than skis. Snowboarding is performed on snow covered slopes which were typically originally designed to accommodate skiers. As is well known, each foot of a skier is mounted with a binding to a respective ski, the feet being mounted parallel to the length of the skis.
Although both skiing and snowboarding are performed on snow, snowboarding differs significantly from skiing in that rather than having separate sportsboards (i.e., skis) for each foot, only a single sportsboard is used. In a typical snowboard mounting configuration, both feet of the snowboarder are fixedly mounted with a binding to the single sportsboard, one in front of the other, and transversely or at an angle to the length of the snowboard. Also, unlike skiing, no poles are used in snowboarding.
There are two prevalent types of snowboard mounting techniques in use today: strap bindings and step-in bindings. Strap bindings allow a user of the snowboard to wear relatively soft boots, which are mounted at a non-parallel angle to the length of the snowboard. The tops of the soft boots and often the upper portions are strapped or clamped onto the snowboard. Step-in bindings are attached to the snowboard at or near the soles of a stiffer boots. Step-in bindings provide added convenience to the user over strap bindings, but come at the cost of less comfortable boots and differing contact pressures between the snowboard and the user""s feet.
Use of safety release bindings is usually unnecessary with snowboards, unlike with skis. When a skier falls, each foot has a separate elongated lever attached to it (i.e., a ski) which is capable of applying tremendous torsional force to the skier""s ankles or knees. Thus, safety release bindings are a requirement for skis to protect against serious injury to the skier""s ankles and knees. On the other hand, since a snowboarder has both feet attached to a single lever or sportsboard (i.e., a snowboard), the twisting force resulting from a fall is exerted on the torso, not necessarily the ankles or knees. The torso of the human body is much more capable of withstanding the forces resulting from a fall without serious injury.
FIG. 20 shows a conventional upright standing position of a user on a sportsboard, e.g., a snowboard.
In particular, in FIG. 20, the left foot 1102 and right foot 1104 of a user are mounted transversely or otherwise at a non-parallel angle to the length of the sportsboard 1100. The user may typically place or mount their left and right feet 1102, 1104 at any position along the upper surface 1110 of the sportsboard. However, if the left and right feet 1102, 1104 are rested or mounted directly below the hips 1112, 1114, poor control of the sportsboard 1100 would result. Conversely, if the left and right feet 1102, 1104 are rested or mounted at too wide a distance apart on the upper surface of the sportsboard 1100, although greater control of the sportsboard 1100 may result, a greater amount of strain may be placed on the human body. For instance, the ankles and knees may be over-strained in maintaining an upright position of the human body, and too large a torque may be required to turn the lager radius formed by the wide distance between the left and right feet 1102, 1104. Thus, a balance is usually made for lateral stability between the amount of control provided by separated placement of the left and right feet 1102, 1104 on the sportsboard, and the strain on the human body, particularly the ankles, knees and torso, based on the feel of the particular rider. Accordingly, a snowboarder is typically forced to assume a wider stance, creating a severe shear effect in the ankle joints of the rider, a loss of aligned momentum to the bindings, asymmetric muscle stress, and generally excessive wear on the joints of the extremity.
Human feet do not generally have strong muscle structure to provide a large amount of lateral strength. To compensate for this, most riders over-use or over-stress the side of the leg muscles, e.g., the tibialis anterior, extensor digitorium longus, peroneus longus, and/or the peroneus previs. For instance, in the now well known talus fracture particularly frequent among snowboarders, some of these muscles as well as the attached ligaments are often damaged.
Although snowboards were largely inspired by water surfboards, the riding characteristics differ greatly, mostly because snowboarders must wear boots while water surfboarders often go barefoot. Thus, the rider of a surfboard has unlimited ankle movement to maintain his or her balance on the surfboard while riding waves, while the ankles of the rider of a snowboard are restricted somewhat by the boots which must be worn, and thus movements of the sportsboard are performed by movement of other elements of the human body. Furthermore, the acceleration and deceleration forces encountered by a snowboarder are typically greater than those encountered by a water surfboarder. Nevertheless, the present invention provides improvements to any type of sportsboard ridden in an upright position, including snowboards and surfboards.
While the popularity of snowboarding and other upright sportsboard type sports has increased sharply over the last few years, various so-called wear-type of injuries have developed. Indeed, the type of stance used by upright users such as snowboarders combined with the types of forces that are exerted during practice of the relevant sport tend to cause accelerated wear on joints such as the hip joints, the knee joints and the ankles of the snowboarder.
As shown in FIG. 20, conventional sportsboard construction includes a relatively flat upper surface 1110 on which the feet 1102, 1104 of the user are rested or mounted during a normal riding stance. It has been discovered by the present inventor that this relatively flat riding surface proves to be a disadvantage in conventional sportsboards.
For instance, when in an upright position on a sportsboard, ground reaction forces are directed upwards against the planter aspect of both feet and maintain the plane equilibrium and stability of the lower extremities and pelvis. With a single sportsboard, equal ground reaction forces are exerted on the lateral and medial planter surfaces of both feet. However, when the trunk is rotated relative to the feet (as is often the case in snowboarding), the reactional forces and the equilibrium are both modified.
For instance, when the trunk is rotated to the right, the right foot supinates and the left foot pronates. The right forefoot inverts from the ground and vertical ground reaction forces are greater against the lateral side of the forefoot and less against the medial side of the forefoot. The left forefoot remains flat on the ground and vertical ground reaction forces are distributed evenly against the forefoot. Conversely, when the trunk is rotated to the left, ground reaction exerts unusual forces against the left forefoot and even forces against the right forefoot.
These type of normal ergonomic reactions of the human body are satisfactory for situations wherein a given individual rests on a static structure. However, when a given individual is subjected to acceleration and deceleration forces, it is recognized by the present inventor that the combination of the reaction forces can lead to accelerated wear on various joints of the human body by using a sportsboard with a relatively flat upper surface. Furthermore, not only is excess wear placed on various joints of the human body, but the control forces generated by the various body parts of the rider to control the sportsboard may not be optimized for the type of movements required, e.g., during riding of a snowboard.
Attempts have been made in the past in the design of, e.g., snowboards, to reduce the wear on various body parts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,924 issued to Robert S. Barci on Dec. 22, 1992 (hereinafter xe2x80x9cthe ""924 patentxe2x80x9d) discloses a snowboard binding system using wedge-shaped base members inserted between the upper surface of the snowboard and the lower surface of the rider""s boots. The upper surface of each wedge-shaped base member supports the sole of a boot.
Although the wedge-shaped base member provides a more ergonomic connection between the rider""s feet and the sportsboard, the binding system disclosed in the ""924 patent has several disadvantages. For example, the wedge-shaped base members separates the rider""s feet from the upper surface of the sportsboard and thus adds increased height to the center of gravity of the intended user. The separation of the feet from the upper surface of the sportsboard and the increased center of gravity both degrade control of the sportsboard. Moreover, the physical separation between the soles of the boots and the upper surface of the sportsboard reduces the transmission of some sensorial information from the sportsboard to the feet of the rider when riding on a medium such as snow or water. Furthermore, the wedge-shaped base member creates concentrated areas of stress on the sportsboard that may eventually lead to damage and/or breakage of the sportsboard at or near the point of contact between the wedge-shaped base members and the upper surface of the sportsboard.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved sportsboard which reduces wear on a rider, provides accurate control between the rider and the upper surface of the sportsboard, and which provides the necessary sensorial information from the sportsboard to the rider.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, an ergonomic sportsboard comprises a lower surface for contacting a medium to be ridden. An upper surface of the ergonomic sportsboard has a first extremity contacting section and a second extremity contacting section. The first extremity contacting section is adapted to receive a first extremity of a rider in a riding position, and the second extremity contacting section is adapted to receive a second extremity of the rider in the riding position. At least one of the first extremity contacting section and the second extremity contacting section form an upward angle of between 1xc2x0 and 2xc2x0.
In another aspect of the present invention particularly relating to a sportsboard for riding on snow, a snowboard comprises a lower surface adapted for contact with snow when the snowboard is ridden. The snowboard also includes an ergonomic upper surface. The ergonomic upper surface includes at least one upwardly angled extremity contacting section corresponding to a generally unstrained extremity of a rider in a riding position.
A method of providing an ergonomic sportsboard in accordance with the principles of the present invention comprises providing a sportsboard with a lower surface adapted for contact with a medium to be ridden. An upper surface is provided on the sportsboard. The upper surface includes at least one upwardly angled extremity contacting section adapted to receive a corresponding extremity of a rider in a riding position. The extremity contacting section forms an angle of between about 1xc2x0 and 2xc2x0.